1318 Island Beauty vs City Fun

Mark and Sorie compare living in the city and on an island and what they prefer.

Mark: It's funny when we lived in Ogasawara though, isn't it? There were so many positive things but there is also certain things we missed. But firstly, can you recall any of those really, really special positive things that felt when you lived there?

Sorie: It was just a very peaceful lifestyle, very connected to nature. The beaches were gorgeous. The weather was really nice. People were very warm, but yeah, after last year, that was the hardest for me. I started to miss so many things about living in mainland Japan.

Mark: What kind of things did you miss?

Sorie: I missed going to the movies, going to a café and sitting down and reading books and reading magazines, and all of that that comes with a big city, the cultural aspects of it.

What about you? What did you miss?

Mark: Yeah, those things like everything was so naturally confined, so you could—the entertainment, you knew what was going to happen. So when we came back to mainland Japan, they're so unpredictable, you could, as you say, go for a drive or take a train and stumble across some café or some restaurant that you've never seen before and go in and you're anonymous and they had a menu that you never seen before. And you could sit there and then read and enjoy that. And it was impossible to enjoy that in Ogasawara, to do such things. And there certainly wasn't any cinemas or anything like that or shopping centers or modern things.

Sorie: Would you like to go back?

Mark: I'd love to go back there because the community was so strong and so solid. And it felt—I wasn't born there and I'm not even Japanese but I felt completely like I was in my hometown every time I was there and totally accepted in the place and in the community.

But as we found out since we've left there, the world is huge and there's so many communities and so many places all over the world. And I could go back, but I could go to a new place equally. How about you?

Sorie: Personally, I found it too difficult to live so close to nature. I'd say that was a great experience but I wouldn't do it again.

Mark: You wouldn't like to live so close to nature anymore.

Sorie: In an island. Yeah, that's one of the things that made it so difficult. But overall, it was a wonderful experience and I recommend people to go there and see all the beautiful nature that Ogasawara has.